"You returned safely, thank God." The Marchioness's husband, Adrianne's father, sighed a long breath of relief when he saw his daughter and his wife's favorite pupil coming back safely.

"We got into a few scuffles with brigands," Adrianne explained, "but we're unharmed for the most part."

"In the Baron's territory? Unbelievable."

"Deserters: they were skilled enough to push the two of us back. We owe it to Baron Pieter's eldest son, Sir Reinhard, that we managed to rout the brigands and catch their leader."

Sola looked at Adrianne weirdly. Adrianne was for some reason pushing the image of the former casanova as a savior knight in shining armor to make him sound good to the ears of her father...

"I see. I've heard unsavory things about Sir Reinhard... so color me surprised."

"I took the liberty of inviting him to our mansion. I sincerely hope this won't inconvenience you and Mother." Adrianne bowed apologetically.

Her father still felt weirded out by her excessive politeness... and he was something of a pushover himself.

Still, at the same time, it was a bold move on Adrianne's part.

"Well... I sincerely hope things won't be as complicated with the Second Prince."

"It's already complicated as it is." Adrianne's expression turned grim as she remembered the details of her nightmares again. "If I were to become Mother's successor, marrying the Second Prince would be quite a pickle, especially if he intends to become a Duke."

"It will be a different story if Elder Brother is willing to succeed mother, but he wanted to pursue the path to become a member of the Clergy."

She knew for a fact that, even discounting Adrianne's awful personality and political baggage, the spirited Second Prince would be one of Garnet's suitors.

No, not just him either. Even Adrianne's calm and soothing older brother, too, would become one of Garnet's suitors.

Aside from them, Adrianne believed that the other suitors of Garnet would be the cold and calculating son of the Kingdom's top general and a cheery son of the Royal Exchequer -or in modern terms, the Minister of the taxation or the Minister of finance. Both of them could be considered top class burghers.

From the perspective of other women, especially noble ones, Garnet's very existence seems like a blight on the sanctity of social order.

And bad future Adrianne wasn't an exception. Her hatred of Garnet started with a very valid point: the fact that she wasn't born from the nobility and yet gathered so much attention from high-profile young men with status.

But that still doesn't excuse Adrianne's descent into madness, setting her own stage of humiliation.

"Perhaps if Brother is willing to take the mantle, I might consider the idea of our engagement validated." Adrianne gave her father a fake, reassuring smile. "But I don't want to be a burden to either of them."

To entertain the idea that Adrianne wasn't fond of the Second Prince would be wrong. She was very fond of him. Their friendships could be traced to their experience as the page of a legendary knight, Sir Agravain, who had been a duke and the King's uncle.

Unfortunately, Sir Agravain died when the Second Prince and Adrianne were only thirteen years old, six years into their training and before they could be appointed as squires. Adrianne and the Prince went on separate paths after this, learning and training directly under the direct guidance of their respective houses.

Perhaps, the death of Sir Agravain and their separation was one of the many causes of why Adrianne became very spoiled during her teenhood, while Second Prince was the opposite: he used to be a total brat and slightly matured when he lost an irreplaceable mentor.

Perhaps that was why they were not meant to be.

"I see. You have a good point." Her father sighed heavily. He felt he should disapprove of such a point of view; yet, it would be hypocritical to push Adrianne to follow her desire.

He was married to the Marchioness and adopted the Lyster family name due to a marriage of convenience. He had been the one-term elected mayor of a big city when he was not yet thirty years old: quite an achievement from someone considered personally timid. As a Mayor, he was politically unambitious due to his upbringing and family background (the second son of a bourgeois family). Still, he excelled in administrative work, introducing multiple improvements in managing the city's infrastructure. As such, he stepped down after five years reign with a moderately positive reputation. That's when the as-yet-single Marianne Lyster approached him, boldly proposing a politically motivated marriage.

Marianne knew he had what it would take to ensure the prosperity of Lustre, yet was also too timid to seize everything for himself. While he took care of their estate, Marianne could focus on protecting the March of Lustre from martial threats. Affection and care only grew between them after the birth of their eldest son, Adrianne's older brother, Avan.

From his own experiences, he understood that if Adrianne had the interest of Lustre in mind, and the House of Lyster in particular, she had to search for a less politically powerful and enthusiastic husband. And Reinhard, the son of Baron Pieter, fulfilled that criteria. Of course, Baron Pieter himself was known to be aggressive in building his connections. There was a non-zero chance of Pieter using his son to worm into Lustre's hierarchy.

Oh well, his wife would know... once she recovered. And he, her pushover husband, would pray for her swift recovery.

"Finally!" Dame Sola muttered in a hurry when she saw Madam Ruby open the door to the Marchioness' bedroom.

"How was it, my wife?" the only man in the vicinity asked, his voice wavering.

"It's been taken care of. But..."

"It's fine, Madam!" Adrianne told her. "Just as I told you before..."

"Right." Ruby steeled herself and smiled. "Thanks to Lady Adrianne bringing me as early as possible, the Marchioness will recover swiftly. However..."

The door behind them crumbled apart courtesy of the now-recovered Marchioness, her steely eyes full of vigor.

"I'd like to hear it myself, however grave," the Marchioness said, "Madam Ruby."

"Why would you do that?" Adrianne looked at her mother in disbelief. Seriously! Destroying a door just to test her recovered physical strength?

"I'd like to tell you, but telling you in private might be no longer an option," Ruby sardonically responded. For a seemingly ordinary doctor and pharmacist, she had the guts to face even the Lioness of Lustre. "I suggest removing all the non-essential personnel from our vicinity."

"You heard her." The Marchioness's husband mustered whatever sense of authority he had. "Everyone except the Head Maid shall leave at once."

The Marchioness called her prized pupil before she could leave: "Sola, you stay here."

The maids and manservants hurriedly evacuated the general area to make sure nothing leaked out. The Head Maid obediently and silently stood slightly behind, while Sola stood beside Adrianne.

The Marchioness called them to her room: "Come in!"

As the Marchioness sat at her bedside with everyone else surrounding her, Ruby started explaining the situation.

"What ravaged the Marchioness's body wasn't poison or disease, but an ancient sound curse." Ruby's face darkened. "It is a type of magic which has been forgotten. Even the memory of it has only survived in bits of folklore and piecemeal fragments of ancient history."

"Sound curse?" Sola gaped.

"You can find information on them in the Church's historical archives," Ruby told her. "Unfortunately, some of them are classified."

"I was exploring the newly unburied ruins due to the earthquake causing a major landslide on the bordering mountain," the Marchioness explained. "Indeed, it seems that we got cursed because we trespassed into something important. The people who were affected beside me died shortly. They were both civilians."

"Indeed, the Marchioness' body, mind, and magic circuit resilience are exemplary. Most people would've died in hours. Many couldn't have survived three days."

"Ah, so it was..." The Marchioness muttered in horror, "Adrianne, thank you."

"It's fine, Mother." Adrianne closed her eyes tight so that tears would not come out. She couldn't bear to look weak, not when her mother showed a borderline insane level of the will to live.

"So, three people fell victim." The Marchioness's husband knelt down and gently held his wife's hand as he cried. "I'm glad you survived."

"A curse trap had only so much strength without self-sustaining magic system backing them. Spending much of its power just trying to get the Marchioness under its influence, it didn't have much left and targeted the weakest people."

"Unfortunately, it was by no means weak – and that's why the damage on the Marchioness' loop circuity is permanent."

"How bad it is?"

"Five hundredths... no, perhaps you lost a tenth of your inner force."

"Only a tenth," the Marchioness spat. "I've still got a lot in me to keep fighting."

"Mother," Adrianne scolded her, which was about the only time Adrianne had objected to anything she did in the last two years. "Please stop being childish."

"Ah, yes. My apologies." The Marchioness uncharacteristically mellowed. "I should be more vigilant. This is my fault for ignoring your warning. And I owe you for saving me this time, Adrianne."

Adrianne shook her head. "It's the duty of a daughter... to help her parents."

"Be that as it may, you're the one who kept suffering those nightmares of a bad future." The Marchioness looked at her and then to Ruby. "I assume she also appeared in your dream somehow."

Adrianne explained, "I'm still unclear how it leads into that, actually."

"A dream?" Ruby raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Doesn't that sounds more like a prophecy?"

"Well... an apocalyptic prophecy, perhaps." Adrianne hesitated but then nodded. "I have the vaguest of memory of the former nurse of the Second Prince coming to help. In fact, I've been searching for your existence for almost an entire year. A puzzle can only be complete with all the pieces gathered."

One year... one year of hard work JUST for this moment. It's not like Adrianne can nab just about everything with ease. She even failed to draw the connection between Ruby and her future archnemesis, Garnet.

Of course, in Adrianne's case, her hatred of Garnet might be unfounded. She didn't plan to follow that scenario, not at all. She will even let go of her feelings for the Second Prince if that's what necessary.

"I see. You only know me as a former wet nurse." Ruby laughed. "Interesting."

"In any case, we owe it to Madam Ruby." Adrianne steeled herself.

"Right. We will surely reward Madam Ruby handsomely." Her father rubbed his chin as he stood up, having stopped crying at last. "Right, my dear?"

"Of course. Anything you want, if I can afford it, I will give it," the Marchioness agreed.

"All I can ask is to continue living in peace, so it would make me happy if you keep a lid on this incident." Ruby bowed politely. "That is my request."

The Marchioness understood well: someone with not only complete knowledge of an ancient curse but who also knew how to seamlessly remove it... how many still existed in this world?

Knowledge is power, for the pen is mightier than the sword.

And power invites trouble, especially interested parties with bad intentions. Just the information alone would put Ruby under the curious eyes of the Church since they were the largest institution in the country with a vested interest in rediscovering and preserving the knowledge of the ancients.

"I understand." The Marchioness nodded. "I swear in the name of Lyster, we will protect you, Madam Ruby."

"Thank you."

"But I could not in good conscience have you leave empty-handed."

"Pardon my insolence, but I'm a doctor, and you're a patient, with all that implies." Ruby smiled calmly. "Milady."

"Well, that means three days of full service, transport fee, and also the cost of the medication for the purpose of physical recovery too," Adrianne countered with a bored face, now that the tensions were gone.

The Marchioness burst out laughing in response. So Ruby fully intends to bill her with the standard rate, after all!

"Three days?" her husband asked.

"I believe that for all intent and purposes, Lady Marianne had recovered. However, to keep the pretense of mundanity, Lady Adrianne proposed so that I should stay here for three days."

After all, there's no such thing as a magical cure in the world. Not for diseases or poison, at least. Now, curses are a different story... a story that Ruby doesn't want to tell.

"We shall arrange for your accommodation for the next three days." The Marchioness's husband nodded and then turned to the Head Maid. "The third guest room, have it prepared."

"Yes, sir." The Head Maid bowed and left.

The first guest room in the mansion is reserved for when the King or the Duke may visit, while the second is reserved for Marchioness' peers: the counts.

Lending those rooms for Ruby to stay will invite suspicion and hassle, but the rest should be fine. They were all available for Barons and other high-profile guests that were nonetheless still beneath the Marchioness in the hierarchy.

They have to strike a natural balance so that Ruby's presence won't raise too much suspicion. However, both of her parents realized that Adrianne had everything laid down perfectly.

"You have a plan on your own, Adrianne?" her father asked as soon as there were only three of them left in the room.

"I didn't, but I have a... suggestion," Adrianne muttered. "Her daughter will also attend the Knights Academy, but she not only didn't come from the nobility, her family also wasn't exceptionally wealthy either."

"Hmm."

Even among those who were not originally part of the nobility, these youngsters usually came from richer-than-average backgrounds, such as trades and crafts.

"Are you saying we should sponsor them?" the Marchioness asked.

"No, we have something else that we can give inconspicuously." Adrianne smiled. "At least by the House of Lyster's standards."

CHAPTER 03 - THE STUBBORN HEROINE

Three days passed with very little fanfare. The truth of the Marchioness suffering from an ancient curse was replaced with the fake official statement of her suffering from a disease. And three days later, she already made a public appearance.

Regardless of that, the ruins were sealed temporarily, citing potential biohazards as the primary reason. Only the most foolhardy of adventurers and looters would dare to trespass.

After coming out of the Lyster Mansion, surely people will notice Madam Ruby, the humble pharmacist from the neighboring barony. Regardless, the true nature of her actions was well hidden. Only four people knew about them, including the Marchioness herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" the Marchioness asked Ruby, and it wasn't a courtesy either.

"The best defense is to hide in plain sight. Peace would not last forever, but I want to savor it as much as I can," Ruby politely refused. "It's an honor for me to have the experience of taking care of you, Milady."

"Well, just in case something happens, we're sending out a light escort to go along with you," the Marchioness's husband chuckled. "I hope you're not bothered by this."

The light escort was actually Sola and six armored soldiers. So not light at all, not by peasant metric. Not even by a low noble metric.

"I don't deserve it, but from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. Sir."

Ruby had no reason to refuse: the better her chances of getting back home safely, the better. She had a good alibi regarding her method anyway.

"Dame Sola, pass this letter to Sir Reinhard for me, will you?" Adrianne asked, oddly serious. "Don't let anyone else receive it, even on his behalf."

"Milady, you couldn't possibly–"

"It's NOT a letter of courtship, Sola." Adrianne cringed in response. Seriously, why did people always think that she had romance in mind?

"I'm surprised you can express so much disgust with the idea, to be honest." Sola laughed inwardly. Not that she had the right to say anything. She fell for Reinhard's seduction a while back, despite being five years his senior...

Just remembering that, Sola wanted to kill herself.

The group departed at a modest and steady pace. Behind the horse cart that Ruby had rented, a larger carriage with four horses could be seen. The carriage was escorted by six armored soldiers.

Sola's Starfall Crusader could be seen walking ahead of the group, instead. Of course, she was wearing a new cloak for weather protection.

Honestly, Ruby felt a little bit anxious. She felt that Marchioness's family, but especially Adrianne, was being honest with their promise. However, they also had a hidden objective: that large cart was suspicious.

What are they carrying?

Still, there was no doubt that she felt safer on the road with such a powerful group to escort her. She reached her home in half a day without encountering any problems.

"I'd like to offer you a humble welcome. You must be tired from such a journey!" Ruby said in earnest.

"Thank you, Madam. But I still have to try and meet Sir Reinhard. Also..."

"Welcome back, Mother!" A young girl stormed out of the Pharmacy.

"I'm back." Ruby ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. "Please introduce yourself."

"Whoa?! A real knight?!" The girl's eyes widened, with her rounded cheeks framed perfectly by her shoulder-length bobbed hair.

Other than her shorter hair, she looked the spitting image of her mother, only much, much younger. So young-looking that Sola was hard-pressed to believe she was the same age as Lady Adrianne.

The girl assumed a courteous bow and introduced herself: "My name is Garnet Pucheria. It's an honor to meet you."

Sola opened her visor and smiled. "My name is Sola Linker, a knight in service of the House of Lyster."

Sola would have believed it if she'd been told that Garnet was fifteen or sixteen years old, not eighteen.

Sola gave a hand signal, then the six armored soldiers pulled away the cloth that covered the big horse cart. It revealed a freshly restored Starfall with the Lyster heraldry removed and the armor painted with deep red lacquer.

"The original type?!"

"That's correct." Sola nodded. "Lady Adrianne wished for Garnet to use it in her debut as a student of the Knights Academy."

Garnet's jaw dropped so hard her eyes almost turned white from shock. Madam Ruby, on the other hand, frowned. Did the Marchioness purposely do this to make sure that she and Garnet felt indebted to the Lysters?

"With due respect, Dame Linker," Ruby said firmly. "I cannot in conscience accept such an expensive gift."

"Before you refuse, please read this letter together." Sola handed an envelope to Ruby, which the young woman immediately opened and read aloud.

Dear Garnet

You might not know me, and we haven't met before, but I know you. Or at least, I think I know you well. Your potential didn't lose to the nobles. Your hard work and determination earned you a scholarship enrollment in the Elite Knights Academy.

But that's precisely the problem. You're both too bright for a commoner and too ordinary for the nobles. You will face so many difficulties fitting in and gaining allies.

It does not mean that it will be impossible for you to find comrades you can trust. But you will have to stay honest and vigilant to get to that point.

And even after you find yourself a company of loyal brothers and sisters in arms, you will still find that many have closed their hearts and minds and see you as nothing but a blight in their lives.

If nothing else, I hope you can use this old machine as your sword and shield. You will need all the help you can get. That way, you can achieve your dreams.

But I cannot associate with you personally without jeopardizing my own future. For that reason, I shall apologize in advance, just in case we meet in the future in the worst possible circumstances and I might give you unfriendly treatment.

Signed: Adrianne Valiant Lyster

What a strange letter, Ruby thought to herself. Adrianne flat out said she would not associate herself with Garnet? Furthermore, her attitude was clearly the opposite of her mother.

The Marchioness clearly wanted Ruby to be her associate in exchange for support and protection. But Ruby just wanted to spend the rest of her life in peace and rejected the deal.

Of course, Garnet is a different story. Her dreams of becoming a knight put her directly in harm's way... but Ruby isn't willing to stop her. Garnet spent her last ten years of life unofficially serving a local knight just so that she could study and learn what it takes. She wasn't even acknowledged as the knight's disciple.

Garnet couldn't become a knight without graduating from the academy since she wasn't officially a squire. But Garnet persevered, nonetheless. That's why Ruby had no heart to stop her stubborn and foolish daughter.

"Lady Adrianne is such a generous person." Ruby closed her eyes, somewhat miffed.

The way Adrianne did it was exactly the same way Garnet's 'mentor' did. They wouldn't acknowledge Garnet openly yet also provided her what it would take to pursue her dream to become a knight in shining armor.

"I assure you, Lady Adrianne asked for nothing in return," Sola told her.

"What do you think, Garnet?"

"...I think what Lady Adrianne said was the truth." Garnet gravely nodded. "I know very well that I'm not welcomed in this society... but the world of chivalry only respects those who strive and carve their place with courage and honor. It would be foolish for me to reject this, Mother."

Indeed, Garnet already started with disadvantage, twice over for that matter. She was a commoner who had studied under the shadow of a sour knight who wouldn't acknowledge her. If she could get leverage on something, it would be stupid for Garnet not to take it in a heartbeat.

"I understand. You're old enough to make such life-changing decisions anyway." Ruby gave up and then excused herself with a bow. "Please excuse me, and send my regards to Lady Adrianne."

"Great, let's sign the official transfer paper and proof of ownership." Sola smiled happily. The lion's share of her mission today was a success.

Garnet did not skimp on reading the fine prints of both papers, making sure there were absolutely no strings attached. Part of her scholarship requirement was to pass the written exams with near-perfect scores, including national law and legal contracts.

Those who had official sponsorship of a knight or a noble house could skimp the requirement.

Garnet put her legal stamp and signatures on both documents. "I don't know if I can promise anything in particular, but I'd be happy to tell Lady Adrianne how much I appreciate this. And that I owe her a favor I might not be able to return."

"Lady Adrianne said that you can pay her back by making sure to maintain your grade." Sola laughed.

Garnet wrily smiled in response. Poor grades would mean the end of her scholarship. As she could not afford to pay, she would have to drop out of the academy, which would mean giving up her dream.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Garnet replied. "Dame Linker."